3 questions about VHS > DVD

[Salva Veritate]

1) I'm 90% sure I lack the equipment to record VHS > DVD, but I want to make sure. How do I find out whether my VCR (Samsung DVD-V2500) and computer (Gateway 550GR with XP Pro SP1) can support the transfer? I know my way around most basic video/audio/image editing programs but when it comes to hardware I don't know a 3.2 GHz processor from a Pop-Tart, so a little help would be appreciated.

2) Failing that, I'd try a VHS > miniDV > DVD transfer, having recently gotten equipment for a miniDV > computer transfer. How much quality would be lost here (assuming highest quality settings for the transfer)?

3) Failing THAT, are there any VHS > DVD services that won't arrest you for copyright infringement? I was going to go to Office Depot, but I noticed a big sign that said "COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS A FEDERAL CRIME AND WILL BE PROSECUTED" or something. That scared me off, since my material (audience shots of music concerts) is a gray area for a lot of people.

[thecoalman]

1. Not a fan of DVD transfer but its certainly faster, the computer is irrelevant. You only need the right software. Pop the disc in afterwards and rip it, more importantly you need software that works with MPEG.

2. Better method than DVD IMO and there's a wider range of support with software. Lot of variables here but all things being equal they will look about the same as direct to DVD transfer, however if you want to try and further enhance it with software filters, adjust brithness etc, this is the way you should go.

[Salva Veritate]

1) What's bad about VHS to DVD? You say you don't like it but you don't tell me why. D: Let's say I was going to do it this way, would TMPGEnc DVD Author work? BTW I was talking about VHS > computer (for authoring) > DVD, not straight VHS > DVD, if that makes a difference.

2) I'm 100% willing to sacrifice speed for quality. But I brought this up with a friend earlier today and he told me that it would lose a shit-ton of quality from VHS > miniDV. What are the variables involved and how do I stop my video from sucking?

Also, I planned on using TDA with this too, but that doesn't have video filters. What other software would you recommend?

[thecoalman]

would TMPGEnc DVD Author work? BTW I was talking about VHS > computer (for authoring) > DVD, not straight VHS > DVD, if that makes a difference.

I don't use that program, only thing I know about it is that it works well with MPEG. If you do it right and are not making major changes to the video such as filtering the entire clip or other things that will change the entire clip then it's not an issue, software designed for MPEG only reencodes the frames that have changed such as if you have added title or transition. The large portion of the video isn't touched. If you're going to apply filters or large amount of edits capturing to mpeg is pointless because you have to reencode anyway.

But I brought this up with a friend earlier today and he told me that it would lose a shit-ton of quality from VHS > miniDV. What are the variables involved and how do I stop my video from sucking?

You're friend has no clue, DV-AVI is lightly compressed format made for editing, you can reencode it multiple times with negligble quality loss. You should see little to no difference between the two DVD's , id anything the DV-AVI is going to look better. If done right the DVD from the DV-AVI source will look much better. MPEG encoders like clean sources, VHS is not a clean source. After capture you can apply light noise filters or whatever you want resulting in a overall better looking video. Now you have a much cleaner source to feed to the encoder....

For filtering and restoring see the restoration forum.

[Salva Veritate]

Kick ass! Thanks so much. I've been meaning to get this done for a while, lol.

Thanks again!

[lordsmurf]

You only need 3 basic things for a good VHS to DVD transfer:

1. A good VCR. A combo deck is not it. Generally, I refer to S-VHS machines from JVC and Panasonic, the higher end machines. If unwilling to buy good equipment, a plain Sharp, Sony or Panasonic VHS player will do.

2. A good recording device. These can be DVD recorders (certain models of Toshiba, Philips and JVC) or computer cards/devices (including DV, hardware MPEG and uncompressed AVI). DV and MPEG both have compression issues, but neither are "bad" (your friend is an idiot, sorry). Uncompressed needs 75GB per hour of computer drive space, and a decent CPU to chug through it.

3. If your tapes have signal degradation, digital devices may reject what it sees, mistaking it as copy protection. You'll need a timebase corrector, although some cheaper "stabilizer" devices sometimes work (not as perfectly as a TBC, however).

That's the basics.

Computer software for authoring nice menus, etc., is all optional. It does look better in the long-run, and there are lots of concepts to learn in this process (overscan, interlace, field dominance, etc).

Video takes effort and has a learning curve. A decent budget lets you buy good equipment to do a decent transfer. You basically can make a VHS tape look worse on DVD< the same, or better. It's all about your dedication and willingness to budget a few hundred (up to a grand) for the right tools.

How many tapes are you going to convert?

[Salva Veritate]

Well, I want to be as frugal as possible, lol. My high school part time job income level can't even come close to providing decent equipment/software for a video editing hobby. I have 5 tapes I absolutely have to convert, but there's many more later on.

My friend got a VHS > DVD recorder (he said "Panasonic something or other"), so I'll probably ask him to do it. Any cautions about these types of devices?

And I have a new problem with my miniDV camcorder. I can successfully connect it to the VCR (wow!) but when I do, I get the DVD video and VHS audio. I plugged the A/V cables into the only set of three A/V out plugs in the whole deck, and the S-VHS cable in the only S-VHS plug. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

[lordsmurf]

Caution? Besides low quality, not really.

[thecoalman]

And I have a new problem with my miniDV camcorder. I can successfully connect it to the VCR (wow!) but when I do, I get the DVD video and VHS audio. I plugged the A/V cables into the only set of three A/V out plugs in the whole deck, and the S-VHS cable in the only S-VHS plug.

I do not understand what you mean and "DVD video" is not part of the equation here. Varies by cam but generally they have single mini-jack for both AV in/out, refer to your manual as you will most likely have to make some changes in the menu to enable this. Also be aware not all cams have this feature. You connect the RCA cables (red,yellow,white) from your cam to the RCA output jacks on the VCR. Alternatively you do not have to connect the yellow one and use the s-video cable instead for the video if you have both s-video connections on your cam and VCR deck.

Connect the cam to your computer via firewire, turn on the VCR, turn on the cam, fire up your software transfer program on the PC. Start recording with the transfer program and press play on the VCR deck.

[Salva Veritate]

I was unclear in my phrasing, sorry. It's a combo deck, plays both VHS and DVD. I was playing a VHS and a DVD at the same time, and I connected the deck to my camcorder (single mini-jack as you said), and began recording. But what my camcorder recorded was the sound that the VHS was playing, but the video came from the DVD that was playing. So I had audio of my friends talking on the VHS and video of my Rage Against the Machine DVD. I'm 99% sure connected everything right, since there are no other options that make sense. What am I doing wrong?

Also, I'm probably going to end up doing that double connection thing you're talking about, but I'd rather keep it simple for now.

[lordsmurf]

"combo deck" is the problem.

[Salva Veritate]

Well I figured that. How do I fix it? And don't say "get a real VHS/SVHS deck" lol.

[thecoalman]

I'd imagine reading the manual is agood place to start, have you tried playing just one?

[Salva Veritate]

Well I can't find the manual for the combo deck at the moment, and I've followed the camcorder manual to a T. =\ And if I play just one, I get the audio from the VHS and the default blank screen from the DVD mode.